Billionaire John Gandel sells $500m stake in Charter Hall Group and retail trust
Billionaire retail landlord John Gandel has offloaded his entire stakes in property manager and developer Charter Hall Group and its retail trust, worth about $500 million, to focus on other interests including shopping centre landlord Vicinity Centres, the giant Chadstone shopping mall in Melbourne and philanthropy.
Gandel Group said it had entered block trade agreements to sell 79.2 million stapled securities, or 19.18 per cent, in CHG and its 5.65 per cent interest in Charter Hall Retail REIT through fully underwritten sell-downs to third-party investors.
It is understood Macquarie Equities has placed the securities to institutions.
The appetite was strong given Charter Hall Group and the listed REIT both trade at premiums to their net tangible assets.
Charter Hall went into a trading halt before the market opened on Thursday morning and last traded at $5.38 a security. The REIT last traded at $4.17 a security.
Gandel Group owns 25.9 per cent of Vicinity Centres, which was formed from the merger of Federation and Novion Properties early last year, and half owns Chadstone, which this week unveiled a new $660 million wing.
Mr Gandel has been one of the more prolific retail landlords, mainly in Victoria, for many years, matched only by fellow billionaire Frank Lowy. In the latest BRW Rich List, the Westfield co-founder ranks third with wealth of $8.26 billion, while Mr Gandel, the half owner of the giant Chadstone mall in Melbourne, is fifth at $5.4 billion.
Mr Gandel has been invested in Charter Hall for many years and has backed the group’s retail wholesale fund to boost it to its current $1.8 billion value.
Charter Hall has identified retail as a growth sector by this week paying $197 million for the Campbelltown Mall which will be the seed asset for a new retail wholesale property partnership for retail shopping centre assets with one of Australia’s largest super funds MTAA Super.
In a letter to the ASX on Thursday, company secretary Tyng Choo said CHC had been a “highly successful” investment for Gandel and the business was well placed to continue its success.
“Gandel is undertaking the sale as part of its broader corporate planning, including focusing its capital and resources on Vicinity Centres and Australia’s flagship shopping centre, Chadstone, where combined Gandel has approximately $4.5 billion invested, as well as other interests and philanthropy,” he said.
Charter Hall on Wednesday paid $140.5 million for a half share of the Coles headquarters, dubbed, the “Battlestar Galactica” , in East Hawthorn, Melbourne from Investa Office Fund.
